Bus system for use with information processing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A processor bus linked with at least a processor, a memory bus linked with a main memory, and a system bus linked with at least an input/output device are connected to a three-way connection control system. The control system includes a bus-memory connection controller connected to address buses and control buses respectively of the processor, memory, and system buses to transfer address and control signals therebetween. The control system further includes a data path switch connected to data buses respectively of the processor, memory, and system buses to transfer data via the data buses therebetween depending on the data path control signal.

This is a continuation application of Ser. No. 09/983,373, filed Oct.24, 2001 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,810,461); which is continuationapplication of Ser. No. 09/690,998, filed Oct. 18, 2000 (now U.S. Pat.No. 6,334,164); which is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No.09/518,696, filed Mar. 3, 2000 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,195,719); which is acontinuation application of U.S. Ser. No. 09/375,356, filed Aug. 17,1999 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,098,136); which is a continuation applicationof U.S. Ser. No. 09/276,968 filed on Mar. 26, 1999 (now U.S. Pat. No.6,006,302); which is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No.09/143,985, filed Aug. 31, 1998 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,935,231); which isa continuation application of U.S. Ser. No. 08/959,913, filed Oct. 29,1997 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,889,971); which is a continuation applicationof U.S. Ser. No. 08/601,993, filed Feb. 15, 1996, (now U.S. Pat. No.5,751,976); which is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No.08/449,088, filed May 24, 1995, (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,956); which isa continuation application of U.S. Ser. No. 08/311,893, filed Sep. 26,1994 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,483,642); which is a continuation applicationof U.S. Ser. No. 07/705,701, filed May 23, 1991 (now abandoned).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a bus system employed in informationprocessing apparatuses such as a workstation, a personal computer, and aword processor.

The bus system disposed in the information processing apparatus isconfigured; like a bus system described in a report “EISA” written by L.Brett Glass in pages 417 to 424 of “BYTE”, Volume 14, Number 12 (1989);such that memory and system buses are respectively connected to aprocessor bus or processor and memory buses are respectively linked tothe system bus.

In the former constitution, during a cooperative action of the systemand memory buses, namely, during the so-called direct memory access(DMA), the processor bus cannot operate in an independent fashion, whichconsequently leads to a deterioration of the utilization efficiency ofthe processor bus. In the latter case, on the other hand, during acooperative operation of the processor and memory buses i.e. during theso-called main memory access, the system bus cannot operate in anindependent manner, thereby leading to a problem of a deterioration ofthe utilization efficiency of the system bus.

In this regard, the configuration and the problems of the conventionalbus system will be described in detail later by referring to drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a bussystem for use with an information processing apparatus capable ofmaximizing the utilization efficiency of each bus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bus system inwhich a cooperative action of a processor bus and a memory bus and anindependent operation of a system bus can be accomplished at the sametime.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a bus systemin which a cooperative action of a system bus and a memory bus and anindependent operation of a processor bus can be accomplished at the sametime.

Still another object of the present intention is to provide a bus systemfor use with an information processing apparatus in which when there isestablished an interconnection between at least three buses includingthree kinds of buses i.e. system, memory, and processor buses, theutilization efficiency of each bus can be maximized.

In order to achieve the objects above, according to the presentinvention, there is established a configuration in which aninterconnection is constituted in the form of a three-way connectionwith three types of buses including the processor, memory, and systembuses such that while two arbitrary types of buses are achieving acooperative operation, the bus of the other type can operate in anindependent manner.

That is, according to the present invention, there is disposed controlmeans forming a three-way connection of three kinds of buses including aprocessor bus linked to at least one processor, a memory bus connectedto a main memory, and a system bus linked to at least one connecteddevice such as an input/output (I/O) device, thereby establishinginterconnections between various buses.

In other words, according to the present invention, a bus system for usewith an information processing apparatus includes three kinds of busesincluding a processor bus linked to at least one processor, a memory busconnected to a main memory, and a system but linked to at least oneconnected device and connection control means for interconnecting thesebuses to each other.

In accordance with the present invention, the connection control meansincludes data path switch means for transferring data through the databuses respectively of the three kinds of buses thus interconnected toeach other and a bus/memory connection controller for transferringcontrol signals and addresses through the control and address busesrespectively of the three kinds of buses and for generating a data pathcontrol signal to be supplied to the data switch means.

Preferably, the data switching means and the bus/memory connectioncontroller are configured respectively as integrated circuits or arecombined with each other in an integrated circuit.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the number of the busesof each kind need not be limited to one, namely, even when there aredisposed a plurality of buses of either one of the three kinds, theconnection control means may be similarly constructed to establish aninterconnection between these buses.

In the configuration of the present invention described above, with aninterconnection of the three kinds of buses including the processor,memory, and system buses, for example, when a processor on the processorbus conducts a processor/main memory access to access the main memory onthe memory bus, data is transferred only via the processor and memorybuses i.e. the system bus is not used for the data transfer.Consequently, the system bus can operate in an independent fashion. Onthe other hand, when a connected device on the system bus achieves a DMAto access the main memory on the memory bus, data is transferred onlythrough the system and memory buses. That is, the processor bus is notemployed for the transfer and hence can achieve an independentoperation.

As a result, it is possible to develop the maximum utilizationefficiency for each of the three kinds of buses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent by reference to the following description andaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a firstembodiment of a bus system according to the present invention:

FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams schematically showing configurations of bussystems of the prior art;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustratively showing an embodiment of a three-wayconnection controller 103 in the first embodiment of the presentinvention shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are block diagrams respectively showing embodiments of adata path switch 402 and a bus/memory connection controller 401 in theembodiment of the three-way connection controller 103 of FIG. 4 used inthe first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the constitution of a secondembodiment of a bus system according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a thirdembodiment of a bus system according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing correspondences between a data path controlbit signal 420 to be decoded by a decoder 510 of the data pass switch402 of FIG. 5 and results of the decoding operation according to thepresent invention;

FIGS. 10 to 15 are diagrams showing relationships between the data passcontrol signal (DT_CNT) 420 and other signals in the various steps ofstate transition in the processor/main memory read, processor/mainmemory write, processor/system bus device read, processor/system busdevice write, DMA read, and DMA write operations, respectively;

FIG. 16 is a transition diagram showing an example of state transitionof a sequencer 601 in the bus/memory connection controller 401 of FIG.6;

FIGS. 17 and 18 are signal timing charts showing examples of datatransfer operations associated with FIGS. 9 to 16; and

FIG. 19 is a configuration diagram specifically showing connections ofsignals of FIGS. 17 and 18 between the three-way connection controller103 of FIG. 4 and the respective buses 111 to 113.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings, a description will be given ofembodiments of a bus system according to the present invention.

First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. In this regard, FIGS. 2 and 3 showconfigurations of a bus system in the conventional technology, whichwill be described here in detail for comparison with the presentinvention.

In each of FIGS. 1 to 3, there are disposed processors 101 (nprocessors; where, n is an integer) a cache memory system 102, a mainmemory 104, and system bus connection devices 105 (M devices; where, Mis an integer). The connected devices 105 may be so-called I/O devicessuch as a controller for disk files, a controller for drawing and fordisplaying images, and a controller for networks and communications.Reference numerals 111, 112, and 113 denote a processor bus, a memorybus, and a system bus, respectively. In FIG. 1, a numeral 103 designatesa three-way connection controller. In FIGS. 2 and 3, numerals 201 and301 respectively correspond to bus connection controllers 201 and 301and memory connection controllers 202 and 302.

In the conventional,bus systems of these figures, the system bus 113 andthe memory bus 112 of FIG. 2 are respectively connected via the busconnection controller 201 and the memory connection controller 202 tothe processor bus 111 in an independent manner. On the other hand, inFIG. 3, the processor bus 111 and the memory bus 112 are respectivelyconnected via the bus connection controller 301 and the memoryconnection controller 302 to the system bus 113 in an independentmanner.

In the constitution of FIG. 2, for a DMA operation transferring databetween a connected device 105 on the system bus 113 and the main memory104 on the memory bus 112, the data is sent via the processor bus 111.In consequence, it is impossible to simultaneously achieve the DMAoperation and an independent operation of the processor bus 111, forexample, for a data transfer between the processor 101 and the cache 102or between a plurality of processors 101. On the other hand, in thestructure of FIG. 3, in the so-called processor/main memory access inwhich data is transferred between the processor 101 and the main memory104, data is passed through the system bus 113. Consequently, it isimpossible to simultaneously achieve the processor/main memory accessand an independent operation of the the system bus 113 e.g. for a datatransfer between a plurality of devices 105 connected to the system bus113.

In contrast thereto, the bus system shown in FIG. 1 as the firstembodiment of the present invention is configured such that three kindsof buses i.e. the processor bus 111, the memory bus 112, and the systembus 113 are connected to each other in a three-way connection by thethree-way connection controller 103. In consequence, for a DMAoperation, data is not passed through the processor bus 111, and hencean independent opration of the processor bus 111 and the DMA operationcan be simultaneously executed. Moreover, since the system bus 113 isnot used for a processor/main memory access, an independent operation ofthe system bus 113 and the processor/main memory access can beaccomplished at the same time. With the provisions above, for the DMAoperation and the processor/main memory access, there can be developed amaximized utilization efficiency for each of the three kinds of buses.

Next, a description will be given of an example of performanceevaluation on the bus system of the first embodiment of the presentinvention shown in FIG. 1 and the bus systems of the prior art shown inFIGS. 2 and 3 together with quantitative features of the effectdeveloped by the first embodiment according to the present invention.

In the bus systems of FIGS. 1 to 3, let us assume that the processor bus111, the memory bus 112, and the system bus 113 have maximum datathroughput of 400, 400, and 200 megabytes per second (MB/s). Moreover,it is assumed that the ratio of the main memory access is 40% on theprocessor bus 111, the ratio of DMA through the system bus 113 is 70%,and the maximum bus acquisition ratio is 50% for the bus connectioncontrollers 201 and 301. Under these conditions, when each of theprocessor bus 111 and the system bus 113 is operated to develop themaximum throughput, the performance of each bus system will be evaluatedas follows.

First, in the conventional bus system of FIG. 2, when the system bus 113attempts to operate with the maximum throughput of 200 MB/s, a requestof DMA equivalent to 70% of the 200 MB/s i.e. 140 MB/s is enabled to bepassed to the bus connection controller 201. For the bus connectioncontroller 201, the system allows a processor bus acquisition ratio ofup to 50% of 400 MB/s, namely, 200 MB/s. In consequence, the DMA requestof 140 MB/s is entirely accepted. As a result, although the system bus113 operates at a transfer speed of 200 MB/s, the processor bus 111receiving a DMA request can only operate substantially at a transferrate of (400−140)=260 MB/s. In this situation, the processor/main memoryaccess is accomplished with a bus acquisition ratio of 40% of 260 MB/s,namely, 104 MB/s. in consequence, a request for a transfer rate of(140+104)=154 MB/s is sent to the memory bus 112, which can cope withthis request as described above. In short, the bus utilizationefficiency is attained as follows for each of the three kinds of busesin the conventional bus system of FIG. 2, namely, 260/400×100=65% forthe processor bus 111, 254/400×100=63.5% for the memory bus 112, and200/200×100=100% for the system bus 113.

Next, in the bus system of the prior art shown in FIG. 3, when theprocessor bus 111 attempts to operate with the maximum throughput of 400MB/s, a main memory access request associated with 40% of the throughputi.e. 160 MB/s is issued to the bus connection controller 301 However,the bus connection controller 301 is allowed to operate the system bus113 with a throughput of up to 50% of 200 MB/s, namely, 100 MB/s.Consequently, the processor/main memory access is only processed with atransfer rate of up to 100 MB/s. As a result, the processor bus 111 canoperate only with a transfer rate of up to 250 MB/s (100 MB/s is 40% of250 MB/s). Moreover, in this situation, the system bus 113 operatessubstantially with a throughput of (200−100)=100 MB/s. In consequence,the Dk request is issued with a transfer rate of 70% of 100 MB/s i.e. 70MB/s. Resultantly, there is produced a request of (100+70)=170 MB/s tothe memory bus 112, which can accept this request as above. In summary,the bus utilization efficiency is obtained as follows for each of thethree kinds of buses in the conventional bus system of FIG. 3, namely,250/400×100=62.5% for the processor bus 111, 170/400×100=42.5% for thememory bus 112, and 100/200×100=50% for the system bus 113.

As contrast therewith, in the bus system shown in FIG. 1 as the firstembodiment according to the present invention, when the processor bus111 attempts to operate at a transfer rate of 400 MB/s, a main memoryaccess request is sent to the three-way connection controller 103 for atransfer rate equal to 40% of 400 MB/s i.e. 160 MB/s. In addition, whenthe system bus 114 tries to operate with a throughput of 200 MB/s, a DMArequest of a transfer rate identical to 70% of 200 MB/s i.e. 140 MB/s ispassed to the three-way connection controller 103. In response thereto,the three-way connection controller 103 issues to the memory bus 112 atransfer request including the processor/main memory access request andthe DMA request with a resultant transfer rate of (160+140)=300 MB/s.The memory bus 112 can cope with this request. In consequence, theprocessor bus 111 and the system bus 113 are capable of operating at 400and 200 MB/s, respectively. That is, the bus utilization efficiency isobtained as follows for each of the three kinds of buses in the bussystem shown as the first embodiment of the present invention in FIG. 1,namely, 400/400×100=100% for the processor bus 111, 300/400×100=75% forthe memory bus 112, and 200/200×100=100% for the system bus 113.

The results above are presented in Table 1 below. As can be seentherefrom, based on the bus system of the present invention of FIG. 1,it is to be understood that the bus utilization efficiency is maximizedfor the three kinds of buses.

TABLE 1 FIG. 1 FIG. 2 FIG. 3 Utilization efficiency of 100%   65% 62.5%processor bus 111 Utilization efficiency of  75% 63.5% 42.5% memory bus112 Utilization efficiency of 100%  100%   50% system bus 113

Incidentally, prior to a description or an embodiment showing a specificconstitution of the present invention, a description will be given ofbus systems as second and third embodiments according to the presentinvention with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

In FIGS. 7 and 8, reference numerals 701 and 703 denote single-typeprocessors and a reference numeral 801 stands for multiple-typeprocessors 1 to N, where each of these processors may be connected to aseparate cache memory system. Numerals 701 and 703 indicate processorbuses respectively linking the processors 701 and 703 with a four-wayconnection controller 705. The four-way connection controller 705further connects processor buses 711 and 712, a memory bus 112, and asystem bus 113 to each other. Furthermore, reference numerals 702, 704,and 802 designate cache memory ssytems separately connected to theprocessors 701, 703, and 801, respectively. In this regard, devices 105connected to the system bus 113 are similar to the I/O devices of thepreceding embodiment.

In the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 7, fourbuses including three kinds of buses i.e. the two processor buses 711and 712, the memory bus 112, and the system bus 113 are connected toform a four-way connection by the four-way connection controller 705.The processors 701 and 703 are single-type processors to which the cachememory systems 702 and 704 can be respectively connected. Inconsequence, although the processors 701 and 703 can directly access theseparate cache memories 702 and 704 respectively without using theprocessor buses, the processor buses cannot be shared therebetween.

In FIG. 7, the four-way connection controller 705 accomplishes theconnection control between four buses including three types of busessuch that, for example, a communication between the processors 701 and703 is achieved in concurrence with a DMA operation or a main memoryaccess from the processor 701 and a system bus access from the processor702 are concurrently executed. With the provision above, also in thisembodiment, like in the embodiment described before, the bus utilizationefficiency can be increased to the maxim extent for the four busesincluding three kinds of buses.

FIG. 8 is constituted with, like the first embodiment of FIG. 1, threekinds of buses including a processor bus 111, a memory bus 112, and thesystem bus 113, which are connected to each other in a three-wayconnection by a three-way connection controller 103. A reference numeral801 indicates a multi-type processor to which a separate cache memorysystem 802 can be connected. Consequently, each processor 801 can accessthe cache memory system 802 without employing the processor bus 111.Moreover, the processor bus 111 can be used as a shared unit. Inaddition, in the bus system shown in FIG. 8 as a third embodimentaccording to the present invention, like in the embodiment of FIG. 1,the operations above are possible, for example, a DMA operation and anindependent operation of the processor bus 111 can be concurrentlyachieved or a main memory access from the processor bus 111 can beaccomplished in parallel with an operation of the system bus 113. As aresult, also in this case, like in the first embodiment, there can bedeveloped the maximum utilization efficiency of the three busesassociated with three different kinds.

Referring next to FIGS. 4 to 6, a description will be given of concreteembodiments or essential sections of the embodiments according to thepresent invention described above. Although a detailed configuration ofthe three-way connection controller 103 will be particularly describedin conjunction with the first and third embodiments respectively shownin FIGS. 1 and 8, the four-way connection controller 705 of FIG. 7 mayalso be constructed in a similar manner.

In this connection, FIG. 4 shows the constitution of the three-wayconnection controller 103 including two integrated circuits. In FIG. 4,the three-way connection controller 103 is connected to a processor bus111, a memory bus 112, and a system bus 113. These buses respectivelyinclude address buses 411, 414, and 417; control buses 412, 415, and148; and data buses 413, 416, and 419. In this embodiment, the three-wayconnection controller 103 is constituted with two integrated circuitsi.e. a bus-memory connection controller 401 and a data path switch 402.However, the three-way connection controller 103 may be implemented withan integrated circuit or plural integrated circuits.

The data path switch 402 is disposed to establish a three-way connectionbetween three types of buses including the processor data bus 413, thememory data bus 416, and the system data bus 419. The data path switch402 is responsive to a data path control signal 420 outputted from thebus-memory connection controller 401 to achieve connections anddisconnections between the three types of data buses 413, 416, and 419and to control data I/O directions on the buses.

On the other hand, the bus-memory connection controller 401 is connectedto the processor address bus 411, the processor control bus 412, thesystem address bus 417, and the system control bus 418 so as to monitorstates of the processor bus 111 and the system bus 113. Moreover, thebus-memory connection controller 401 produces signals for the memoryaddress bus 414 and the memory control bus 415 and the data path controlsignal 420 to control the main memory 104 and the data path switch 402.The data pass control signal 420 will be described later in detail.

The bus-memory connection controller 401 causes, in response to arequest issued from the processor bus 111 for a processor/main memoryaccess, the processor bus 111 and the memory bus 112 to achieve acooperative action and then sets the system bus 113 to an independentoperation. Furthermore, when a DMA operation request is issued form thesystem bus 113, the bus-memory connection controller 401 activates thesystem bus 113 and the memory bus 112 to conduct a cooperative operationand causes the processor bus 111 to achieve an independent operation. Inaddition, when the processor bus 111 sends an access request to thesystem bus 113 or when the system bus 113 issues an access request tothe processor bus 111, the bus-memory connection controller 401 sets theprocessor bus 111 and the system bus 113 in a cooperative action.Moreover, when there appears a conflict between a request from theprocessor bus 111 and a request from the system bus 113, for example,when memory accesses are simultaneously received therefrom, thebus-memory connection controller 401 develops a function achieving anarbitration control, for example, to set either one of the buses 111 and113 to a wait state.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of an embodimentof the data path switch 402 shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 5 includes datainput/output drivers 507, 508, and 509 respectively connected to aprocessor data bus 413, a memory data bus 416, and a system data bus419; data latch circuits 501, 502, and 503; and data selectors 504, 505,and 506. A decoder 510 is disposed in configuration to decode a datapath control signal 420 produced from the bus-memory connectioncontroller 401 so as to generate output enable signals 511, 512, and 513respectively for the data I/O drivers 507, 508, and 509 as well asselect signals 514, 515, and 516 respectively for the data selectors504, 505, and 506.

The data latches 501, 502, and 503 are disposed to store therein inputdata respectively from the processor data bus 413, the memory data bus416, and the system data bus 419. The selectors 504 to 506 are used toselect, from input data from the two remaining data buses, data to berespectively supplied to the processor data bus 413, the memory data bus416, and the system data bus 419, thereby achieving a control operationas follows. Namely, input data of an arbitrary one of three kinds ofdata buses is outputted to the buses of other kinds; alternatively, theinput data is passed only to one of the other buses. In consequence,based on the data pass control signal 420, all of the three kinds ofdata buses may be operated in a cooperative manner or a cooperativeoperation of two arbitrary kinds of buses and an independent operationof the other one kind of bus may be achieved.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the internal configurationof the bus-memory connection controller 401. FIG. 6 includes I/O drivers601 to 604, latch circuits 605 to 608, decoder circuits 609 and 610,encoder circuits 611 and 712, a sequencer 613 constituted with anarithmetic logic unit, a memory control signal generator 616, and a datapath control signal generator 617.

Input signals respectively from a processor address bus 411, a processorcontrol bus 412, a system address bus 417, and a system control bus 418are stored respectively via the I/O drivers 601, 602, 603, and 604 inthe latch circuits 605, 607, 606, and 608, respectively. The addressesinputted from two kinds of buses and thus loaded in the latch circuits605 and 606 are then decoded by the decoder circuits 609 and 610,respectively. Results from the decoding operations are processedtogether with data of the latch circuits 607 and 608 i.e. input signalsfrom the two types of control buses 412 and 418. Namely, the encodercircuits 611 and 612 encode the associated inputs to generate signalsdesignating states of the processor bus 111 and the system bus 113,respectively. As a result, the bus-memory connection controller 401 canmonitor the states of the processor bus 111 and the system bus 113,respectively.

The state signals thus encoded by the encoder circuits 611 and 612respectively for the processor bus 111 and the system bus 113 are fed tothe sequencer 613 including an arithmetic logic unit. Depending on thestate signals of the two types of buses 111 and 113, the sequencer 613computes correspondences of the respective buses and determines anoperation for the memory bus 112, thereby producing code information.The sequencer 613 will be constituted with a general-purposemicroprocessor and an exclusive hardware configuration.

The code information created from the sequencer 613 is decoded by thedecoder circuit 614, which generates output enable signals 618 to 621respectively to the I/O drivers 601 to 604, a select signal 622 to theselector circuit 615, a memory control code 623 and a data path controlcode 624 respectively to the memory control signal generator 616 and thedata path control signal generator 617, and control output signals 625and 626 to be respectively sent to the processor control bus 412 and thesystem control bus 418 via the I/O drivers 602 and 604, respectively.

The I/O driver 601 is responsive to a request issued from the system bus113 for an access to the processor bus 111 to output to the address bus411 an I/O address received from the system address bus 417. Moreover,the I/O driver 602 supplies the processor control bus 412 with a controloutput signal 625 specified in association with the processor bus 111.On the other hand, the I/O driver 603 is operative, when the processorbus 111 issues an access request to the system bus 113, to send to thesystem address bus 417 an I/O address from the processor address bus411. Furthermore, the I/O driver 604 outputs to the system control bus418 a control output signal 626 defined in conformity withspecifications of the system bus 113.

The selector circuit 615 receives addresses from the processor addressbus 411 and the system address bus 417 such that when an access to thememory bus 112 occurs, either one of the received addresses is selectedto send the selected address onto the memory address bus 414. The memorycontrol signal generator 616 serves as a code conversion circuit suchthat a memory control code 623 produced from the decoder circuit 614 isconverted into a memory control signal stipulated according tospecifications of the memory bus 112, thereby outputting the resultantsignal to the memory control bus 415. The data path control signalgenerator 617 also functions as a code conversion circuit to convert adata pass control code 614 created from the decoder circuit 614 into adata pass control signal 420 associated with the data pass switch 402 soas to output the obtained signal 420.

As described above, the bus-memory connection controller 401 disposed inthe three-way connection controller 103 can develop control operationssuch as connections, disconnections, and wait operations for the threekinds of buses.

In addition, referring to FIGS. 9 to 19, a description will be given indetail of embodiments of various data and signals processed in thethree-way connection controller 103.

FIG. 9 shows an example of relationships between the data path controlsignal 420 outputted from the bus-memory connection controller 401 tothe data path switch 402, enable signals 511, 512, and 513 decoded bythe decoder circuit 510 respectively for the I/O drivers 507, 508, and509 in association with the control signal 420, and select signals 514,515, and 516 for the data selectors 504, 505, and 506. In this diagram,the master, slave, and read/write fields in the upper-most row indicatea master unit, a slave unit, and a read or write request for a datatransfer from the master unit to the slave unit, respectively. Theremaining fields of the upper-most row includes signal namescorresponding to the signals 511 to 516 of FIG. 5. Specifically, DT_CNTin the right-most field of the row designates the data path controlsignal 420. This signal DT_CNT includes three bits in this embodiment Inan idle state where data is not transferred, DT_CNT 40 is set to 0(“000”).

The enable signals (DIR_P, DIR_M, and DIR_S) 511, 512, and 513 are “0”or “1” when the associated I/O drivers 507, 508, and 509 are in theinput or output state, respectively. The select signal (SEL_P) 514 isset to “0” or “1” when the selector 504 selects the port of the memorybus 112 or the system bus 113, respectively. Moreover, the select signal(SEL_M) 515 is “0” or “1” when the selector 505 selects the port of theprocessor bus 111 or the system bus 113, respectively. In addition, theselect signal (SEL_S) 516 is “0” or “1” when the selector 506 selectsthe port of the processor bus 111 or the memory bus 112, respectively.According to this diagram, based on DT_CNT 420 inputted to the decoder510 of the data path switch 402, the selectors 504 to 506 and the I/Odrivers 507 to 509 can be controlled in the data path switch 402,thereby controlling directions of the three-way connection between thethree kinds of buses.

Subsequently, operations of the three-way connection controller 103 willbe described by referring to the configuration diagram of FIG. 19showing in detail the buses connected to the three-way connectioncontroller 103 of FIG. 4 and the signal timing charts of FIGS. 17 and18.

In these diagrams, the same constituent elements as those of FIGS. 1 and4 are designated by the same reference numerals. Numerals 1910 and 1911respectively denote a DMA master I/O device and a slave I/O devicerespectively corresponding to the devices 105 connected to the systembus 113. In FIG. 19, a acknowledge signal (ACK) 1902 is a responsesignal to a processor 101 and indicates confirmation of data oracquisition of data in the read or write operation, respectively.

A row address strobe signal (RAS) 1903, a column address strobe signal(CAS) 1904, and a write enable signal (1905) constitute a portion of thememory control signals to be sent to the memory control bus 415 of themain memory 104. The address multiplex signal (AD_MPX) is an internalsignal of the bus-memory connection controller 401 and is set to a highstate or a low state to output a row address or a column address,respectively. The system bus grant signal (S_GNT) 1906 is used to granta bus mastership i.e. to allow an I/O device 1910 which is one of theconnected devices 105 and which may be set to a DMA master unit to usethe system bus 113. As a result, the I/O device 1910 can be operated asa DMA master unit. The address/data strobe signal (S_STB) 1907 isproduced from a system bus master unit. For a DMA access or a processorI/O access, this signal 1907 is outputted to the DMA master I/O device1910 or the bus-memory connection controller 401, respectively. For aread or write operation, the system bus strobe signal (S_STB) 1907 iskept outputted for an assertion period of an address or an address anddata, respectively. The system bus slave acknowledge signal (S_ACK) 1908is a response signal from the system bus slave unit. For a DMA access ora processor system I/O access, this signal 1908 is outputted from thebus-memory controller 401 or the slave I/o device 1911, respectively.The system bus acknowledge signal (S_ACK) 1908 indicates assertion ofdata in a read operation and acquisition of data in a write operation.Signals S_GNT 1906, S_STB 1907, S_ACK 1908, and S_READ 1909 designatingdiscrimination between a read operation and a write operation belong tothe control output signal 262 to be sent to the system control bus 418.The system bus address (S_ADD) is supplied to the system address bus417. Incidentally, the system bus read/write signal (S_READ) 1909 is setto a high (H) state for a read operation.

FIG. 16 shows an embodiment of a state transition of the sequencer 613disposed in the bus-memory connection controller 401. Moreover, FIGS. 10to 15 are diagrams showing signals outputted in a plurality of steps ofthe state transition of the respective transfer operations and arerespectively associated with the processor/main memory read,processor/main memory write, processor/system bus device read,processor/system bus device write, DMA read, and DMA write operations.In the diagrams, a small circle (◯) denotes assertion of an associatedsignal; furthermore, “H” and “L” of, for example, the signal S_READ 1909respectively designate a high state and a low state of the signal value.In addition, an overline assigned to a signal name indicates a negativelogic of the signal.

In FIG. 16, in a step S2 of the processor/system bus device readassociated with FIG. 12, a wait operation takes place for a dataassertion from the system bus slave unit. In a step S 3 of theprocessor/system bus device write related to FIG. 13, the systeminitiates a wait operation for a write response. In a step S1 of the DMAread associated with FIG. 14, a wait operation is caused for an S_READreception; thereafter, based on a read/write judgement at a reception ofS_STB, a transition destination is decided for a subsequent step S2.Moreover, in a step S8 of the DMA read and a step S5 of the DMA write,the system initiates a wait operation for negation of the signal S_STBfrom the DMA master unit.

In the signal timing charts of FIGS. 17 and 18 related to signaltransfers conducted according to the specifications of FIGS. 9 to 16,those items enclosed in parentheses denote output sources of therespective signals. That is, for example, (BMCC) designates that thesignal is outputted from the bus-memory connection controller (BMCC)401; moreover, (I/O) indicates the DMA master I/O device 1910 or theslave I/O device 1911 set as a slave unit of the processor/system busI/O access.

In addition, the latch circuits 501 to 502 of the data path switch 402shown in FIG. 5 are constituted with edge trigger flip-flops i.e. thelatch operation of each latch circuit is initiated at a rising edge of aclock signal (CLK) of FIGS. 17 and 18. In this connection, a startsignal (START (1901)) is a transfer start signal, namely, while thestart signal is being outputted, an address is latched at a rising edgeof the clock (CLK), the address being employed in a subsequentoperation. Moreover, a signal M_ADD denotes a memory address to be sentto the memory address bus 414, wherein signals P_Data, M_Data, andS_Data indicate data passed to the processor data bus 413, the memorydata bus 416, and the system data bus 419, respectively. Furthermore,signals P_Latch, M_Latch, and S_Latch designate data loaded in the latchcircuits 501, 502, and 503, respectively.

As can be seen from FIG. 16, the step S3 of the processor/system busdevice write shown in FIG. 13 includes one cycle of a wait operation forassertion of the signal S_ACK. Moreover, the step S2 of theprocessor/system bus device read of FIG. 12 includes two cycles of await operation for assertion of the signal S_ACK (1408). In the DMA readof FIG. 14, the step S1 includes one cycle of a wait operation forassertion of the signal S_STB (1407) and the step S3 includes one cycleof a wait operation for negation of the signal S_STB (1407).

In FIG. 18, the step S1 of the DMA write includes one cycle of a waitoperation for assertion of the S_STB (1407); however, the wait fornegation of the signal in the step S5 is completed only through anexecution of a wait operation.

As above, the operations of the bus/memory controller 401 and the datapath switch 402 of FIGS. 4, 5, and 6 have been described in conjunctionwith the methods associated with FIGS. 9 to 18, which will helpunderstand the operation of the embodiment of the three-way connectioncontroller 103 shown in FIG. 1.

Although description will not be given or configurations and operationsof the four-way connection controller 705 and the like of FIG. 7, theconfigurations and operations will be easily understood from thedescription of the configuration and operation of the three-wayconnection controller.

Moreover, although the processor bus 111, the memory bus 112, and thesystem bus 113 each are of an address/data separation type in thedescription given with reference to FIGS. 4 to 19, the present inventioncan be naturally applicable to buses of an address/data multiplexedtype. For example, when the processor bus 111 and the system bus 113 areof an address/data multiplexed type, the system of FIG. 4 will beconfigured such that the processor address bus 411 and the processordata bus 413 are structured as a bus; moreover, the system address bus417 and the system data bus 419 are combined to form a bus. Theresultant buses are connected to both of the bus/memory controller 401and the data path switch 402.

Furthermore, although the description has been given to the embodimentsaccording to the basic concept of the present invention, it is to beudnerstood that various changes and modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the present invention.

In accordance with the present invention described in detail above, inthe bus system including at least three kinds of plural buses includingprocessor, memory, and system buses, while two kinds of these buses areachieving a cooperative operation, the remaining one kind thereof canconduct an independent operation, which leads to an effect ofmaximization of the utilization efficiency of the respective buses.Particularly, in a case where the processor bus is connected to aplurality of processors or cache memory systems, concurrent operationscan be advantageously accomplished, for example, a DMA operation and adata transfer between a plurality of processors or between a processorand a cache memory system can be simultaneously achieved; moreover, aprocessor/main memory access and a data transfer between a plurality ofdevices connected to the system bus can be executed at the same time.

1. A method for transferring data in an information processing systemhaving a processor bus, a processor coupled to said processor bus, amemory bus, a memory unit coupled to said memory bus, a system bus, adevice coupled to said system bus, a data transfer unit coupled to saidprocessor bus and said memory bus and said system bus, said methodcomprising the steps of: outputting, by said processor, a data transferrequest including an address to said processor bus; receiving said datatransfer request by said data transfer unit that enables transfer ofdata between any arbitrary two of said processor, said main memory andsaid device via a corresponding two of said processor bus, said memorybus and said system bus; outputting a signal in order to access thememory unit by said data transfer unit according to said data transferrequest output from said processor to said memory bus if said addresscorresponds to an address assigned to said memory unit, outputting asignal in order to access the device by said data transfer unitaccording to said data transfer request output from said processor tosaid system bus if said address corresponds to an address assigned tosaid device; receiving said data output from said memory unit or saiddevice; and outputting said data to said processor by said data transferunit.
 2. A method for transferring data in an information processingsystem according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said processor bus,said memory bus and said system bus is an address/data multiplexed bus.3. A method for transferring data in an information processing systemaccording to claim 1, wherein said device is a disk file controller. 4.A method for transferring data in an information processing systemaccording to claim 1, wherein said device is a controller for drawingand displaying images.
 5. A method for transferring data in aninformation processing system according to claim 1, wherein said deviceis a controller for networks and communication.
 6. A method fortransferring data in an information processing system according to claim1, wherein each of said processor bus, said memory bus, and said systembus has a data bus for transferring said data, an address bus fortransferring said address, and a control bus for transferring controlsignals, and said data transfer unit includes: a transfer circuitcoupled to said data buses of said processor bus, said memory bus, andsaid system bus for transferring said data through said data buses, anda control circuit coupled to said address bus of said processor bus forcontrolling said transfer circuit in accordance with said addressprovided from said processor via said address bus of said processor bus.7. A method for transferring data in an information processing systemhaving a processor bus, a processor operatively coupled to saidprocessor bus, a memory bus, a memory unit operatively coupled to saidmemory bus, a system bus, a device operatively coupled to said systembus, a data transfer unit coupled to said processor bus and said memorybus and said system bus, said method of comprising the steps of:outputting, by said processor, a data transfer request including anaddress to said processor bus; receiving said data transfer request bysaid data transfer unit that enables transfer of data between anyarbitrary two of said processor, said main memory and said device via acorresponding two of said processor bus, said memory bus and said systembus; outputting a signal in order to access the memory unit by said datatransfer unit according to said data transfer request output from saidprocessor to said memory bus it said address corresponds to an addressassigned to said memory unit; outputting a signal in order to access thedevice by said data transfer unit according to said data transferrequest output from said processor to said system bus if said addresscorresponds to an address assigned to said device; receiving said dataoutput from said memory unit or said device; and outputting said data tosaid processor by said data transfer unit.
 8. A method for transferringdata in an information processing system according to claim 7, whereinat least one of said processor bus, said memory bus and said system busis an address/data multiplexed bus.
 9. A method for transferring data inan information processing system according to claim 7, wherein saiddevice is a disk file controller.
 10. A method for transferring data inan information processing system according to claim 7, wherein saiddevice is a controller for drawing and displaying images.
 11. A methodfor transferring data in an information processing system according toclaim 7, wherein said device is a controller for networks andcommunication.
 12. A method for transferring data in an informationprocessing system according to claim 7, wherein each of said processorbus, said memory bus, and said system bus has a data bus fortransferring said data, an address bus for transferring said address,and a control bus for transferring control signals, and said datatransfer unit includes: a transfer circuit coupled to said data buses ofsaid processor bus, said memory bus, and said system bus fortransferring said data through said data buses; and a control circuitcoupled to said address bus of said processor bus for controlling saidtransfer circuit in accordance with said address provided from saidprocessor via said address bus of said processor bus.
 13. A method fortransferring data in an information processing system having a processorbus, a processor operatively coupled to said processor bus, a memorybus, a memory unit operatively coupled to said memory bus, a system bus,a device operatively coupled to said system bus, a data transfer unitcoupled to said processor bus and said memory bus and said system bus,said method comprising the steps of: outputting, by said processor, adata transfer request including an address to said processor bus;receiving said data transfer request by said data transfer unit enablingexecution of one of data transfer modes which includes a first mode inwhich data is transferred between said processor and said memory unit, asecond mode in which data is transferred between said device and saidmemory unit, a third mode in which data is transferred between saidprocessor and said device; outputting a signal in order to access thememory unit by said data transfer unit according to said data transferrequest output from said processor to said memory bus if said addresscorresponds to an address assigned to said memory unit in said firstmode; outputting a signal in order to access the device by said datatransfer unit according to said data transfer request output from saidprocessor to said system bus if said address corresponds to an addressassigned to said device in said third mode; receiving said data outputfrom said memory unit or said device in said first mode or third mode;and outputting said data to said processor by said data transfer unit insaid first mode or third mode.
 14. A method for transferring data in aninformation processing system according to claim 13, wherein at leastone of said processor bus, said memory bus and said system bus is anaddress/data multiplexed bus.
 15. A method for transferring data in aninformation processing system according to claim 13, wherein said deviceis a disk file controller.
 16. A method for transferring data in aninformation processing system according to claim 13, wherein said deviceis a controller for drawing and displaying images.
 17. A method fortransferring data in an information processing system according to claim13, wherein said device is a controller for networks and communication.18. A method for transferring data in an information processing systemaccording to claim 13, wherein each of said processor bus, said memorybus, and said system bus has a data bus for transferring said data, anaddress bus for transferring said address, and a control bus fortransferring control signals, and said data transfer unit includes: atransfer circuit coupled to said data buses of said processor bus, saidmemory bus, and said system bus for transferring said data through saiddata buses, and a control circuit coupled to said address bus of saidprocessor bus for controlling said transfer circuit in accordance withsaid address provided from said processor via said address bus of saidprocessor bus.